Germany’s Eurowings hit by cabin crew strike

FRANKFURT AM MAIN – A strike by cabin crew at Lufthansa’s low-cost airline Eurowings led to the cancellation of more than 60 flights on Tuesday, the affected airports in Hamburg and Duesseldorf said.

A strike by cabin crew demanding a pay rise of an average of 3.66 percent per year at Lufthansa’s low-cost airline Eurowings has led to the cancellation of more than 60 flights The walkout was called by Germany’s biggest services union Verdi in a dispute over pay and working conditions. The stoppage began at 0400 GMT and was due to end at 1900 GMT.

Duesseldorf airport, in western Germany, said 52 of 94 scheduled Eurowings flights had been cancelled, while a spokeswoman at Hamburg airport in the country’s north said 14 flights had been scrapped. Parent company Lufthansa meanwhile was bracing for further disruptions on Wednesday when pilots are set to walk off the job for 24 hours in an escalating row over salary increases. The strike, called by the pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit, will affect Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo flights across Germany.

The pilots are demanding a pay rise of an average of 3.66 percent per year, retroactive for the past five years.